The Haystack Digest is back
AI battles, job board meltdowns, high-demand tech roles — and how to actually get hired.
Hey there,
It’s been a minute. Our last Haystack Digest landed back in May 2024, which in tech years is… basically forever ago.
Since our last editions, we’ve helped thousands of devs find better jobs and helped hundreds of companies hire smarter and faster (with a bit of AI magic and a lot of human graft).
Now we’re back in your inbox every two weeks with a quick scan of:
⚡️ Tech news worth knowing
🛠 Dev tips and standout roles
📣 Hiring updates and market insights
📚 Curated reads from the edge of tech
Let’s get into it 👇
⚡ Quick Hits
🧠 ChatGPT vs Copilot — Microsoft’s Copilot is struggling to keep up as office workers overwhelmingly prefer ChatGPT.
💀 Monster’s meltdown — The once industry-leading job board, Monster.com, just filed for bankruptcy.
📉 Hiring rebounds (kind of) — Layoffs are slowing, but entry-level hiring is still way down. Most demand now skews toward mid-to-senior roles.
🧑🔬 Meta poaches OpenAI researchers — Meta has recruited key talent from OpenAI’s Zurich office in a high-stakes AI talent battle.
⚛️ React fatigue — Developers are openly discussing burnout with React and exploring newer frameworks like Svelte, Solid, and Qwik.
🛠 Dev Corner: In‑Demand Roles & How to Upskill
Curious which tech roles are most in-demand and how to break in? Here's a snapshot, complete with real courses and guides you can dive into today:
🎯 1. AI/ML Engineer
Learn the fundamentals: Andrew Ng’s "AI For Everyone" on Coursera is a fantastic primer to build AI fluency
Go deeper: The University of Helsinki’s Elements of AI course is a no-code, globally recognised intro to AI—perfect for beginners
Master MLOps practices: Read about ML Ops fundamentals or jump into cloud-provider learning paths like Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Courses
📊 2. DevOps / Data Engineer (Kubernetes focus)
Start with the basics: Kubernetes.io offers a “Learn Kubernetes Basics” tutorial — a hands-on walkthrough to deploy, scale, and manage container apps .
Go deeper: Try the “Complete Kubernetes Course — From Beginner to Pro” on YouTube, which covers clusters, CI/CD pipelines, and real-world deployment patterns .
Build your own cluster: Spacelift’s “Kubernetes Tutorial for Beginners” is a practical way to set up a cluster and deploy apps spacelift.io.
🔒 3. Cybersecurity Engineer
Get credentialed: Start with IBM SkillsBuild, offering free training in AI, cybersecurity, data analysis, and cloud — complete with credentialing .
Hands-on practice: Dive into official crash courses like CompTIA Security+ (widely respected) or explore bug bounty platforms like HackerOne and Bugcrowd.
📌 Bonus Tips
Project-based learning is key — build something that shows capability (e.g., ML pipeline, cloud infra, infra-as-code).
Document your work — GitHub repos, public dashboards, personal blogs = instant credibility.
Engage in communities — Reddit, Discord, StackOverflow: ask, contribute, learn.
📊 Bonus: Want to know your worth?
We analysed 1000s of roles across the UK tech scene to bring you the 2025 Haystack Tech Salary Report — including breakdowns by region, job title, and seniority.
→ Read the full 2025 Salary Report
📣 Hiring Signals: Now offering full-service recruitment
Big update: Haystack now offers hands-on recruitment.
In a world dominated by AI that spams you with irrelevant CVs and AI that tries to screen those CVs — we’ve decided to get back to basics. If you (or your team) are at breaking point and just can’t face sifting through another applicant, we’ve got you covered.
We’ll source, screen, and schedule interviews for you — all from our network of 100K+ tech candidates.
Whether you’re hiring for tough roles or short on bandwidth, we’ve got your back:
✅ Dedicated Account Manager
✅ End-to-end support
✅ No inbox spam, no fluff
→ Curious how it works? Book a chat
⭐️ Haystack Spotlight: Tribe Connect
This month, we’re spotlighting Tribe Connect — a retail IoT company helping consumer tech brands run immersive in-store product demos that actually work.
From eSIM-enabled demo devices to real-time compliance alerts, their platform powers live shopper experiences in stores across the UK and beyond.
They’re currently hiring through Haystack for:
🔥 Android App Developers (Contract)
📚 What we’re reading
📈 UK tech job vacancies surge 21% - AI demand leads the charge — A PwC‑backed report shows UK tech vacancies are up 21% YoY, with demand for AI skills rising nearly 200%.
🇮🇳 India’s Next $100B Tech Giant? — India’s startup scene is heating up fast.
👟 Shoes in Space? — Reebok’s co-founder wants to 3D print sneakers in orbit. Sure, why not.
💸 Refer & Earn
Know of a company looking to hire?
We'll pay you £300 for every referral.
Plus, get £1,000 bonus when they make their first hire through Haystack.